Seromas are a postoperative accumulations of serous fluid and are one of the most common complications in surgery today. Conventional wound management techniques are commonly applied when a seroma becomes a clinical concern. Placement of a seroma catheter or additional drain, as well as repeated or serial drainage of a seroma, may be required. Such complications result in a significant amount of lost income to patients, as well as expenses to insurers and physicians who have to care for these patients that require serial drainage. Such complications also delay wound healing, may entail additional surgical procedures, and ultimately delay the patient's return to work and routine functional activity. Seroma management can also be costly and, further, can place health care workers to additional needle exposure risks and related outcomes.
Several approaches to reduce seroma formation have been investigated. Surgical techniques, such as collapsing the seroma cavity with sutures, do not consistently and adequately eliminate seroma formation (Chilson, supra; Odwyer, P. J., O'Higgins, N. J., James, A. G. (1991); “Effect of closing dead space on incidence of seroma after mastectomy.” Surg Gynecol Obstet 172, 55-56; Covency, E. C., O'Dwyer, P. J., Geraghty, J. G., O'Higgins, N.J. (1993) “Effect of closing dead space on seroma formation after mastectomy—a prospective randomized clinical trial.” Eur J Sur Oncol 19, 143-146). Other methods, such as sclerotherapy (Tekin, E., Kocdor, M. A., Saydam, S., Bora, S., Harmancioglu, O. (2001) “Seroma prevention by using Corynebacterium parvum in a rat mastectomy model.” Eur Surg Res 33, 245-248; Rice, D. C., et al. (2000) “Intraoperative topical tetracycline sclerotherapy following mastectomy: A prospective, randomized trial.” J Surg Oncol 73, 224-227), compression dressings (O'hea, B. J., Ho, M. N., Petrek, J. A. (1999) “External compression dressing versus standard dressing after axillary lymphadenectomy.” Am J Surg 177, 450-453), and biological adhesives, particularly fibrin glue (Lindsey, W. H., Masterson, T. M., Spotnitz, W. D., Wilhelm, M. C., Morgan, R. F. (1990) “Seroma prevention using fibrin glue in a rat mastectomy model.” Arch Surg 125, 305-307; Harada, R. N., Pressler, V. M., McNamara, J. J. (1992) “Fibrin glue reduces seroma formation in the rat after mastectomy.” Surg Gynecol Obstet 175, 450-454; Wang, J. Y., et al. (1996) “Seroma prevention in a rat mastectomy model: Use of a light-activated fibrin sealant.” Ann Plast Surg 37, 400-405; Sanders, R. P., et al. (1996) “Effect of fibrinogen and thrombin concentrations on mastectomy seroma prevention.” J Surg Res 61, 65-70; Carless, P. A., Henry, D. A. (2006) “Systematic review and meta-analysis of the use of fibrin sealant to prevent seroma formation after breast cancer surgery.” Brit J Surg 93, 810-819), have not significantly decreased the clinical incidence of seroma formation. The current lack of effective methods available to medical practitioners dealing with seromas highlights the need for new methods for the prevention or treatment of seromas.